Digital Tuesday Challenge: It's All About Animals

Not too long ago I reached a heart breaking decision, I needed to sell my beloved horse, Boo (short for Boots and Saddles). It had been at least a year since he had been shown, as my life became nothing but lessons, training other horses, showing others horses and horse show judging. So, there sat Boo...doing, well the equivalant of being a couch potato. A young horse, with so much potential and my schedule just unable to squeeze him in. As many of you know, the cobblers kids have no shoes and the trainers horse just doesn't get ridden, it just happens. So we put him up for sale, had a couple of close calls but no one just seemed to adore him the way I (we) did. He's quirky, full of personality, if you stand next to him and have a zipper coat on he'll zip and unzip you...you know, he's quirky!
So, it was decided we'd take him to the largest, single breed horse show of the year ( and this is the largest horse show in the country)...to the All American Quarter Horse Congress and try to get him sold there. It was really tough hanging all his sale flyers and I didn't do it w/o much gusto and really only put about 1/4 of the up...my heart wasn't in it...
AND wouldn't you know it the very next morning the phone rang, a very nice woman has a daughter who's show horse has tons of feet problems and they were looking for a replacement, can we come see him? Sure, now I've been through the sale "song and dance" before, lots of lookee loo's and not much buyers and since the economy wasn't in the best shape, this is what I expected, they'd come look, and leave...that's just the way the horse business is... So I rode Boo a couple of times around a super crowded ring for them, hoping they got a couple of glimpses of him as I rode him around, and then asked if the daughter wanted to try...they said yes, and she seemed to get along with him pretty good and better yet, he got along with her pretty good and she rode and rode and rode and she smiled and smiled and smiled. FINALLY we got her off the horse and walked back to the stall, chatting about Boo and his quirkiness. Her mother said, we'll see....they walked away from the stalls...and I took a quick peek around the corner to see if they were "really" interested and I could read their body language...they were excited! Not long after, he was purchased by them and now resides in Canada (I joke and say Boo's now "international"). I get regular updates from them and we're facebook friends, I still miss my Boo, but he went to the absolutely best home I could hope for! So if you made it through this... this IS the reason I made this weeks card, it's a picture of Boo and his new owner...oh, the picture below is Boo and underneath HIM is the card...so thanks for bearing with me through this and I hope you enjoy the card!
Our sponsor to the Digital Tuesday Challenge this week is Digital Stamp Oasis. Our challenge was to make an animal card, below is Boo and his new owner...in image and ink.

Recipe:

• Digital Image: Shire by Mo Manning
• Stamps: Happy Valentines Day by Studio G, Circle by Autumn Leaves
• Punches: EK Success; Apron Lace Border Punch, Circle. Stampin Up; Scallop. Posh Impressions; Hearts
• Other: Copics, Ribbon, Glitter, Pop Dots

Stamptacular Sunday Challenge: Love is in the Air & a DT CALL!

DT CALL (Scroll further down to see this weeks Challenge Entry)


We will be celebrating our FIRST YEAR Anniversary at the Stamptacular Sunday Challenge soon...So, what does that mean? It means...it's time for a DT call!


Below are some requirements that each DT MUST fulfill in order to be a member of our team. If these are things you feel you are able to commit to, please follow the submission instructions so you can apply for a position on our team!


Want to be a part of the Stamptacular Design Team? As a DT member you will be required to:* Submit a completed project weekly, via e-mail, following the challenge requirements, no later than midnight (EST) the THURSDAY before the challenge is posted to the blog!

You will get ALL of the challenges in plenty of time to allow you to complete them before the due date!

* Take excellent quality photos of your completed projects.

* Post positive comments on ALL participants' blogs sometime during the week of the particular challenge they participate in. NO EXCEPTIONS! Comments MUST be specific to each entry! MUST be done before midnight (EST) Saturday before a new challenge is revealed on our challenge blog!*

SCHEDULE/POST your weekly challenge creations on your blog each week at 6:00AM Eastern Standard Time!

* Be an active DT member of our Sunday Challenge Blog, share with me any and all challenge ideas you may have and want to see as one of our blog challenges, and HOST challenges, if needed.

* Help to find sponsors willing to donate prizes for our challenges (this can be friends, companies or yourself)* Be open and honest with me when you feel there's a problem or something needs to be addressed or anytime you just want to chit chat.

* ENJOY participating and being part of the Stamptacular DT!ALL ACCEPTED DESIGN TEAM MEMBERS MUST AGREE TO AND FULFILL A SIX (6) MONTH COMMITMENT! (April 2010 through September 2010)

If the above sounds like something you would like to be a part of and you're interested in becoming a Design Team member for our Stamptacular Sunday Challenge Blog, PLEASE e-mail misscill@yahoo.com by midnight 3-5 samples of your BEST work...at least ONE of your submissions MUST be something other than a greeting card and ALL submissions MUST contain stamping! No scrapbook layouts, please!


Please e-mail your submissions to misscill@yahoo.com by midnight (EST) February 25th, 2010 to qualify. Accepted Design Team members will be notified no later than Sunday February 28th, 2010.NOTE: be sure to put STAMPTACULAR DT CALL in the subject heading of your e-mail to be sure it doesn't get overlooked!

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Today, at the Stamptacular Sunday Challenge our challenge is to make a card for someone you love and if you do it without hearts you can be entered into our prize drawing 2X! This week our prize is an actual HANGLAR Stamp donated by our very own LINE!



Now, onto my card, this week I used this love flowers set by Martha Stewart and after making my own DP with it, I thought the flower would look fab done up 3-D...so I cut out the flower 3X and then pop dotted it back together. I added my border and my leaves and a sentiment and was done...it was easy peasy! I'm so glad you could join me today, I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Recipe:

• Stamps: Martha Stewart (flowers), Sentiment by CTMH (retired)
• Ink: Martha Stewart
• Punch: Martha Stewart
• Other: Pearls Martha Stewart...hmmm...must be a trend this week...LOL..it just all went together naturally!
  

Stamptacular Sunday Challenge: Pop Up Cards

What a crazy weather week it has around the good ol' US... Here in Indiana we've been battling icy streets, which makes for interesting DRIVING! The kids have either been out of school or have had school delays because they buses can't drive on this skating rink roads...it's quite scary! I almost witnessed a semi sliding off the road, luckily the driver got it back safely...WHEW and it was headed right at me...gulp! Yup, a CRAZY weather week!

Since weather has been on my brain, I decided to do a CLOUD shaped Valentine's card (gotta get those Valentines made!) for this weeks Stamptacular Sunday Challenge. I couldn't resist these cute Cupid's again, gosh they're adorable...they remind me of Cupie Dolls...anyone else remember those? Anyway...

Our prize this week is a set of VERVE stamps from our own DT member Sara! How cool is this set? I just love it...just in time for spring!

Ok, well onto my card, my card was completely inspired by Kathy Daume take a look at her card, such adorableness, I could totally see my little cupids on a cloud! The smaller clouds were airbrushed and the hearts have been glittered using my Xyron machine...

The inside of my card I did the "traditional" pop up type of card, you can find the tutorial HERE.

Thanks for looking today, I can't wait to see what you create!
Recipe:

• Paper: DP Me and My Big Ideas, Cardstock Joann's
• Stamp: Fairyland Dreams Cupid Set (find it on Etsy)
• Punch: Heart by Posh Impressions
• Other: Copics, Copic Air Brush System, Glitter by Doodlbug, Pop Dots, Ribbon and Charm
  

Digital Tuesday Challenge: Sketch

This week on the Digital Tuesday Challenge, our challenge is this fabulous sketch below! Cutting Cafe is also our sponsor this week (have you been to their site...check it out, so many cute digi items!), many of our DT members used the Cutting Cafe images, so be sure to check out their work too...lots of fun stuff this week!
My card this week incorporates the Cutting Cafe Digital Paper (the hearts) and BOTH of my sentiments came from the Cutting Cafe. I LOVE the digi paper...the hearts come clear so you can make it ANY COLOR you want... LOVE digital versatility! My little cupid comes from a "new to me" digi-store off of etsy called Fairland Dreams. I just love this little guy... Thanks for looking today and I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Recipe:

• Sentiment and DP: Cutting Cafe
• Cupid Image: Fairyland Dreams
• Paper: Joanns
• Other: Nestabilities heart and scalloped heart, Copics, Pop Dots, Fiskars Apron Lace Punch, Martha Stewart Lace Heart Border (the little hearts at the negatives from that punch)

Stamptacular Sunday Challenge: Friendship using only Black/White/Silver

This week on the Stamptacular Sunday Challenge, our challenge is to make a Friendship card, only using the colors Black, White and Silver!

Our sponsor this week is: SIMON SAYS STAMP
PRIZE: $25 GIFT CERTIFICATE and FREE SHIPPING

This week I made a Valentinish Card for a special friend... I didn't send ANY Christmas cards this year (I know...oh the horror!), so I thought maybe I could send a few Valentine's instead... and what better way to get started!

All my inspiration started with the paper flower and you can get a tutorial on it from Tim Holtz HERE. I didn't go quite as far as he did with the layers, but I did stamp my text, punch out, crumple, cut, adhere, assemble and then added some spray adhesive and glitter. I was then so happy with my flower I decided it needed to go on a lovely heart, which is stamped, cut and stiched onto my card. I then wanted a little more OOMPF for my flower...so I added a Cuttlebug Butterfly (embossed and then cut in two) and some mini silver garland leftover from Christmas... I added a border onto the bottom and my sentiment and WA LA...all done!

Thanks for looking, can't wait to see what you come up with!

Recipe:

• Stamps: Paper Trey Ink Fancy Flourishes and Text, Stampin Up All Sayings
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo
• Paper: Joann and Georgia Pacific
• Punches: Stampin Up Scallop (flower), Cuttlebug (butterfly), EK Success (apron border), Nestabilties (heart)
• Other: Black Rhinestones, Black Thread, Black button, Heart Rhinestone, Pop Dots, small silvery garland (bought from Hobby Lobby in the tiny tree ornament section).
  

Digital Tuesday Challenge #41: Embossing; SMITTEN

This week on the Digital Tuesday Challenge our challenge is EMBOSSING...one of my absolute FAVORITE techniques! Our sponsor this week is our own Digital Stamp Oasis...

This has been a crazy week, but in a good way... DH's brother and friend left after a week + of visiting, and we both now have facebook accounts. I've had such a great time catching up with people I haven't chatted with for about 15+ years...it's been good to catch up.... DH is now totally addicted and checks his status as much as he can...so funny!

Anyway, let's get onto this week's card, shall we? This week I used a freebie image from Mo Manning (if you join her Paper Craft Planet group you can get it free too...). I decided to go with Gamsol Magic and colored pencils and then I edged my image with a new punch (to me) that I scored at Joann's sale from EK Success (bracket). I added my sentiment (studio g...doesn't it just go?...all my dog's are smitten with me...I just know it, they are ALWAYS snuggling up to me...I just love it!) and added my cuttlebug swiss dots embossing folder and some crystals
and just a little ribbon. I want to mail this card, so I kept my lumps at a minimum! Thanks for looking...be sure to check out the rest of the DT's creations...

Stamptacular Sunday Challenge: SKETCH

This week on the Stamptacular Sunday Challenge our challenge is the sketch below! What fun...remember you have until Saturday 11:59 p.m. (EST) and you must "stamp" somewhere on your project...I can't wait to see you you come up with... Our sponsor this week is The Pixie Cottage who donated a $10 gift certificate...what fun!

Now onto my card, below I decided to go a little Tim Holtz this week and do a tag using some of his methods from his 12 Tags of Christmas (click on his name to see what he can do)...I have to admit that I've never inked and spritzed a tag (or anything else for that matter) before and it was fun to see the colors blend! What I did was take a tag, and blend red and pink dye ink, then I took a spray bottle of water, stood back and spritzed me tag once or twice, then dried it with my embossing gun... I then added my swirl and the paper.

I decided to then add a pipe cleaner heart, I made, then added my glittered flower, ribbon, stick pins and charm. I adhered it all then added my swirls and sentiments...easy peasy. I hope you enjoy and I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Recipe:

• Stamps: Papertrey Ink Fancy Flourishes
• Paper: Basic Grey and Paper Studios
• Ink: Marvy Uchida
• Other: Flower, Glitter, Adhesive Spray (for glitter on flower), Martha Stewart Punch, Love Charm, Organza Ribbon, Spray Bottle w/water, red pipe cleaner and wire cutter, stick pins.

Digital Tuesday Challenge: Valentines!

This week on the Digital Tuesday Challenge our challenge is to create a Valentine... it's a GREAT time to get a head start on them! Our sponsor this week is Shirley's 2 Girls (who donated the adorable elephants below to the Digital Tuesday DT).

My card is fairly straight forward, I pop dotted some of the hearts and added some Stickles to my creation. I also created a simple tag to bring it all together. Thanks for looking today...can't wait to see what you come up with!
Recipe:

• Digital Image: Shirley's 2 Girls
• Stamp: Stampin' Up
• Paper: Stampin' Up
• Other: Gamsol Magic, Key Tag, Heart punch, rhinestone, organza ribbon, Stickles

Stamptacular Sunday Challenge: Party Time!

Happy New Year! Did you bring in the New Year with a BANG? or just celebrate quietly? This year we actually went out with friends and quietly celebrated at a Bowling Alley...LOL...we had a GREAT time, such a nice change from sitting at home!

The Stamptacular Sunday Challenge week is:

PARTY TIME!

For this week’s challenge you will create a PROJECT that you can use at or for a party…any kind of party! Can be an invitation, party favors, decorat
ions or anything else you’d need or use for a party. Oh, and don’t forget to stamp!

Our sponsor this week is Stamping Bella and a $25 gift certificate...WOW!

For my project this week, I decided to start on Valentine's Day projects. I know many of you make MANY Valentine's favors, so I decided to go quick and simple this week...and while I made this one elegant, you can change the "mood" of your favor with just the paper and ribbon! The favor below is called a SOUR CREAM CONTAINER and if you click on the words, it'll take you to a tutorial on how easy they are to make! I've personally done 100+ of these as wedding favors...that's truly how easy they are to make! I'm so glad you joined me this week and I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Recipe:

• Stamp: Inkadinkado Hearts & Love
• Paper: Paper Studio
• Ink: Memento
• Other: Copic Air Brush System, Copic Marker, Rhinestone, Organza Ribbon, Lace, Nestabilities Labels 4

Rock ON Valentine, Reminder to Vote and Good Mail Day!

Lots going on here today! A reminder to my Split Coast Stamper Blogging Group to GO VOTE for our name...ANYTHING is better than GROUP 8...right? So be sure to p-mail me from Split Coast Stampers with your VOTE! You have until tonight midnight to do so... it's a very close race and your vote COULD make the difference!

Ok, now onto our card today...which was super fast fast fast.... I made this for my little brother (ok so he's like 6'6"...so not so little), but he's in a rock n roll band...The LOVE Handles (he's the youngest Love Handle at age 33), and they play 70's & 80's Rock Music...they are AWESOME! So I thought he'd appreciate this card...it is void of any "major" colors because he's color blind...so he sees things in shades of grey...in fact the red on here he'll think of as green...because of it's shade, but I digress... The layout was one of the Mojo Monday sketches (not this week's but past), and the sparkly paper seemed very "rockerish". The stamps were BRAND SPANKING new, so they didn't ink up quite as well as I would have liked, even though I stamped and restamped and scrubbed...sigh... I have a LOVE/HATE relationship with new acrylics...I LOVE them 'cuz they're new and hate them 'cuz they aren't cured quite yet... so maybe by next card the ink will settle in a bit better. Anyway, recipe below...

Recipe:

• Stamps: H & M Rock On
• Ink: Mary Cherry Red, Staz On Black
• Paper: DCWV
• Other: Circle punches by EK Success, Heart Stickers by K & Co., Pop Dot

And now onto my good mail day...I got a lovely package from KL Stamping and Scrapping Friday (it's been a super busy weekend) with this lovely little Tilda with a Candle from Magnolia stampers. Now I've never tried an EZ Mounted Stamp before, I buy everything unmounted ('cuz let's face it...I'm cheap!), so I'm anxious to ink her up and try her out. Be sure to stop by KLSNS' blog...they are having a fantastic contest this month where you could win some Yummy paper (Bittersweet by Basic Grey)...not too mention all the fabulous ideas...those dt ladies are just soooooo talented! They also have blog candy quite a bit...and everything they have offered so far has been uberly awesome!

The Sound of Crickets.... and a Valentine

...so I went to a Mary Kay demonstration last night with my BFF (she's a consultant)...and we did our faces and they tooks our photos (which we'll collect next week when they try to recruit us...LOL)... However my BFF was in another room doing "consultant" things and we (the guests as we were called) were left with one of the "higher" up consultants that helped us through our make up application process. Very sweet woman, however, she just wasn't too sure of me... For starters, she had us hold up our right hands and "repeat after her"...so I did UNTIL she said "laugh at my jokes..." I took my hand down and looked at her straight in the eye and said "Nope, not gonna promise that, 'cuz I don't know if you're funny..."... I don't think she's used to having someone so straight forward (or with a DRY sense of humor...because really, I was just being my comedic little self!), after that I think she just handled me with "kid gloves"...(I did laugh at a few of her funnier jokes though...). So we get our make up on, our photos taken (Valentine's gifts for dh's is how they were presented) and the rest of the consultants return to the guests...and the "higher" up consultant goes around and asked the consultants what differences they noticed in their guests... Comments for the first guest were like "Wow! What a difference, beautiful, etc..." is what I heard... Comments for the second guest were like"Deeper eyes, etc..." and then we get to me...and YES this is where I heard crickets.... I felt like saying "Buehler, Buehler....Buehler?"...and then one consultant yelled "YOU'RE SMOKING HOT!" ... I couldn't help but giggle.... I almost ran over there and kissed this woman I didn't even know... so I'm guessing that this makes me ... well ... makes me... hmm... I CAME to this thing w/o make up and no one really noticed a difference AFTER the makeup... so I'm either uglier than a mud rail fence or I just don't look like I'm wearing make up when I am...hmmm??????? So I'm not sure WHAT it makes me...but when I got home dh told me I looked "all dolled up..."...gosh I love that man! I did feel pretty...even if I did hear crickets....LOL...

Ok, well now onto our card for today...this was done for the House Mouse Monday Challenge (Valentines) and the Spoon Full of Sugar Sketch. I made this card for my mom, she's pretty much the reason I have an affinity for bunnies (and who could resist the snugglishishness of these Happy Hoppers?)! The quote on the bottom of the card says "If I know what love is, it is because of you!" My flowers have been lightly inked, then stickled and then two tear drop rhinestones put together to fashion a heart in the middle. I added ribbons and the love charm to the right. The stick pin on the lower left of the card is actually a jewelry pin, that I added beads to and a distressed Martha Stewart Lace Heart to...the minute I saw the lacey heart I KNEW I wanted to stick a pin through it! LOL! I added the tear drop rhinestones to the top of the lacey heart to give it a little bling! The last bead has 1/2 a glue dot on it and then the pin stuck through so the beads don't slide off. My Happy Hoppers are colored with colored pencils and I shadowed them in pink very lightly and then distressed the edges of the cardstock with some Antique Photo Ink by Tim Holtz. I stickled the hearts (although THAT did not photo well) I also distressed the Lacey Heart Border with the Antique Photo Ink. I finished the card off with a little piercing...and yes I used my favorite color...PINK! Recipe below...

Recipe:

• Stamps: House Mouse Happy Hoppers Love Bunny
• Ink: StazOn, Tim Holtz Antique Photo
• Paper: De Ja View, Around the Block
• Punches: Martha Stewart Lacey Heart, Heart Lace Border Punch
• Other: Rhinestones, Beads, Ribbon, Heart Charm, Pop Dots, Colored Pencils, Stickles, Piercing Bug

Ghirardelli Box & Cards for Kids

The minute I saw the tutorial on Split Coast Stampers I KNEW I wanted to make one of these (and visiting Sumbines blog really inspired me...thanks Sumbine!)..especially since it involved chocolate! This was truly easy to make, and would make such a nice little gift to someone...the box holds 2 Ghirardelli squares of chocolate...yummmmm!
Do you have a Cricut and the Design Studio Software? This blog has a file you can download that will CUT the Ghirardelli boxes for you...how cool is that! And she's just offering it for free!
Recipe is below...

Recipe:

• Stamp: Inkadinkado Hearts and Love
• Paper: Me and My Big Ideas
• Punch: Fiskars Threading Water
• Other: Brads, Organza Ribbon, Pop Dots

Below is the valentines I made for the Cards for Kids Valentine program. They needed something for the older children...boys in particular...so I thought these weren't "girly" and they were Clean and Simple, so they went together quickly. Recipe is in Saturday's post...

I'm having a GREAT stamping day....

...first off, I WON the KL Stamping and Scrapping challenge over at Paper Craft Planet with my Happy Hearts Day Tilda, what did I win? Well I won a Tilda w/a Candle stamp...I'm SOOOOOO EXCITED!

THEN I wandered over to Paper Craft Planet's Photo's...and my OTHER Tilda Card is a FEATURED PHOTO...OMG! Am I having a GREAT stamping Day or WHAT?!!!!!

I did stamp today, I made about a dozen of the Tree Full of Love Valentines for the Cards for Kids program...to date, she has over 3,500 Valentines...her goal was 1,000! WOW!

Think I'll be going to bed on Cloud 9 tonight...

Tree Full of Love Card and The Sky Is FALLING!

Ok, for those interested in my creative talents, look no further...for those interested in my horse adventures...scroll past the card...with that said...

I "almost" didn't post this card here today, because I'm not quite happy with it. This was done for the Limited Supplies Challenge on SCS (make a Clean and Simple Card...ie no coloring...) and for Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply Challenge...this weeks theme is LOVE... HOWEVER, I did post it to my Split Coast Stampers gallery last night and got THE MOST COMMENTS of ALL MY CARDS EVER on it... so I guess a couple of people like it (LOL)...so I'm posting it here today.

Really, the only thing I did to this tree was add the red hearts to it from an ANCIENT stamp I had from CTMH...we're talking 15+ years for this stamp...anyway, I think it "makes" the card... enjoy...recipe below...horse adventure below THAT...
Recipe:

• Stamps: Penny Black Fantasy, CTMH Hearts
• Ink: Stazon Black, Marvy Cherry
• Other: Organza Ribbon
  

THE SKY IS FALLING

Now most days I have the job every little girl dreams of...I get to play with horses all day. Ask any little girl what they want to do when they group up, ballerina, nurse, teacher, mommy, cowgirl are typical answers...and the romantic visions of taking a wild mustang, putting it in a round pen and breaking it out in an hour like you see in the WESTERNS...is well...a CROCK! Many long hours and wet saddle pads are put into each broke horse you see and for every show horse, many MORE hours are put into THAT horse perfecting it, making what LOOKS easy, well LOOK easy even though it isn't (like a duck on a pond...smooth on top, paddling like anything underneath!).

Now horses have "moods", just like people, mares have "hair flip" days, young horses can be spirited and the older horses can be lazy, but then there are days where they ALL have a bug up their hind end and darn near NOTHING get's done...(well nothing this HUMAN wants done at any rate)...and yesterday was one of those days. It was cold outside yesterday, but the sun was shining and warmed up the indoor arena VERY nicely...so nicely that the snow on the roof started to melt. The first horse I rode, a "barely" broke two year old (when I say barely, I mean I ride this one by itself, stearing, stopping, etc. is all PURELY OPTIONAL from the horse's point of view at this point...LOL), but a really good natured baby, gave me some problems, which is VERY unusual for my "happy go lucky" mount, but ok, he's a baby, they do that...we do some ground exercises, I get on again, end on a good note (always MUST end on a good note with each and every horse!) and put him up and get out the next charge.

THEN it happens, as the next horse is being lunged (this is a riderless horse going around in a circle to run out their excess energy before I ride it)...the snow has melted enough it SLIDES down the steel ,metal roof...it sounds like (to a horse)...THE SKY IS FALLING.... and of course it hasn't melted enough to go ALL THE WAY OFF THE ROOF...OH NO... it slides a few feet and then "rests" with the rest of the snow that is now dripping off the side of the room... Now what do horses do when they think the SKY IS FALLING? Well BOLT of course, with or without a rider...sigh....so we did a LOT Of ground work yesterday...which is WAAAAAAAYYYYYYY more work for the horseless rider, but a lot safer... the snow isn't entirely off the roof yet and we've got LOADS of lessons today, I'm hoping for a cloudy day (wink!)....wish me luck!

Pleated Flower Valentine

Does anyone know how 1" of snow turns into 6+"? We were predicted 1"...I now have over 6" sitting on my porch...I'm still scratching my head on that one! Kevin has been on the bobcat all morning trying to dig us out so we can operate...it's funny how 6" of snow will slow us down to a crawl...and now the FUN part...when it melts...which is all good and fine unless you are riding a horse in the indoor arena and the snow slides down the roof...the horses don't care for it that much and since they are fright and flight creatures, that leaves me grabbing for leather/mane, whatever I can get my hands on when they are in the midst of "Flight"...because if I'M not careful, I'll be flying OFF of them ... LOL... such is the nature of MY job!

ANYWAY, below is card...looks kind of familiar doesn't it? This was actually for the Paper Craft Planet Sketch Challenge AND the Cute Card Thursday Challenge (which was to make a Valentine)...and I wanted another go with Tilda sitting in an open heart, but with RED instead... This is a large card, it measures 5" X 7"...and it's HEAVY, I think I might have to put a penny weight on the back to keep it from falling forward...I have SEVEN buttons on the front making it a little tipsy... I enjoyed paper pleating so much yesterday I wanted to try a pleated flower...(for a tutorial go here), and after a couple of tries I got one done the size I wanted it. I then put my sentiment tag over the top of it. I added seven buttons below Tilda and put heart stickers over the holes. Everything else is pretty straight forward.

Recipe:

• Stamps: Magnolia Tilda w/a Pink Heart, CTMH Sentiment
• Paper: K & Co
• Punch: Martha Stewart Lace
• Lg. Heart: Cricut George Cartridge
• Other: Small Hearts by K & Co., Organza Ribbon, White Buttons, Pleated Flower
  
  
  

A Card, Some Excitement and Some Recruiting....

Ok, first my excitement...did you see my new label to the right here? I made the TOP FIVE at the Cupcake Crafters Challenge blog...YEEEEE! Are you doing the happy dance with me? No? Ok, I'll just make a fool of myself in my own little world! LOL... (needless to say I'm a "little" excited!)

Second, recruiting...would you like to join a blog ring with some bloggers that do mostly "Cutesy" cards? Blogger Group 8 is recruiting a few more to join our happy little family. The benefits are meeting some wonderfully talented ladies, visiting their blogs and stretching outside of your own little 'net world and getting more people to visit your blog and comment on your postings. If you are interested, we have a post on Split Coast Stampers...go here, just sign up if you're interested...

Card?...did somebody say something about a card? Oh yeah, "I" did, didn't I? This is a dual challenge card...this week I joined Split Coast Stampers Try a New Technique challenge...it was to make a pleat somewhere on your card. I had never done this before and I have to admit I saw it in a magazine about a year ago and LOVED it, but never tried it. I did try it tonight, it's easy and I LOVED the results! I used Amy Rysavy's Friday Sketch and decided to do a Valentine's Card. This first photo is just to show the pleats on the card...the second photo is straight on, hope you like it! Recipe is below...

Recipe:

• Stamps: CTMH Be My Valentine
• Ink: Studio G White
• Paper: Chatterbox Hearts Blossom
• Punches: Heart Emagination, Martha Stewart Lace Broder, Quikutz Heart, Fern Unknown
• Other: K & Co Heart Stickers

Beary Best Friends Forever

This is a dual challenge card...the sketch is by the Cupcake Craft Challenge Blog and Stamping Bella is having a Love Fest Challenge on Split Coast Stampers...the challenge is to make your BFF a Valentine, so I did...

The bear stamp is called My Beary Best Friend by Stamping Bella. I don't see this little guy too often, I think he's overlooked by other stampers...the minute I saw him, I fell in love with him...in fact he's the sole reason I have any Bella's at all! I just couldn't resist his beary existence! Anyway, this card is very straight forward, enjoy! Recipe is below (like you didn't know that! wink!)

Recipe:

• Stamps: My Beary Best Friend by Stamping Bella, Sentiment by Studio G
• Paper: Heidi Swapp
• Other: Threading Water Border Punch, Ribbon, K & Co Heart Sticker, Colored Pencils, Rectangle Nestabilities
  

Happy Hearts Day Tilda

I did the Split Coast Stampers Sketch Challenge AND KL Stampin N Scrappin Girls this week, I just love these challenges, so much fun!
I used my Tilda with a Pink Heart and colored her in with colored pencils and then cut her out. I sat her on a Silouhette Heart that I cut out using my Cricut George cartridge. I raised both the heart and Tilda with pop dots.
For the scalloped heart with the sentiment, I stamped the sentiment, punched out the heart and then cut out 3 small scallop oval nestabilites and pieced it together, I aged it (along with the rest of the card) with Tim Holtz Antique Photo, added a Prima flower, a K & Co. heart sticker and two colors of organza ribbon (gold and pink). The recipe is below...there are several photos here showing you the detail of my card. Hope you like!

Recipe:

• Stamps: Magnolia Tilda w/Pink Heart, CTMH Sentiment
• Die Cuts: Open Heart by Cricut George Cart, Small Heart by Martha Stewart Punch, Oval Scallop Nestabilities for Scallop around small heart
• Paper: K & Co.
• Ink: Staz On Black, Tim Holtz Antique Photo
• Other: Heart Stickers by K & Co., Prima Flower, Organza Ribbon, Heart Charm, Piercing Tool

EZ not CheeZee, Limited Supply Challenge 203

I decided this p.m. to play along with Split Coast Stampers Limited Supply Challenge 203. Our challenge was to make quick, non-cheesy cards that could be replicated 30X easily. We had to stick with the colors red, pink, black, white and kraft. We also could not handcut anything out...punches and dies were encouraged. For my card I decided to use another stamp set I won off of Jennifer McGuires blog, Autumn Leaves, On the Edge. I used that along the bottom, then I put my card in my cutter with my score blade and scored two lines. Then I added my Cuttlebug embossing folder for the top. I really wanted the red to pop off of this card, so I used it sparingly. Hope you enjoy, recipe is below the card.

Recipe:

• Stamp: Autumn Leaves On the Edge, Studio G Sentiment
• Ink: Staz-On
• Punches: CM Square
• Embossing: Cuttlebug Swiss Dots
• Other: Foam Heart by American Crafts, Hobby Lobby Ribbon, Pop Dots

Card Sketch A Day Challenge: 2 Cards

I've got two cards to show you today from the Card Sketch A Day blog site. I am one of the featured stampers today, so these are the two cards I made from the sketch that was sent to me waaaaay back in December...and too be honest I COMPLETELY forgot I had submitted these cards until I made it over there today and guess what...my cards were up! Whoops, slight over sight on my part!
The first card I made using Stamping Bella's Bella on a cupcake, however I cut her off of the cupcake! I just LOVE this daisy paper and wish I had purchased more of it! I think I could make TONS of cards using it! I added some daisies to this card also outlining them with a blue colored pencil to make the white pop a bit and added some Stickles to the center of them.

Recipe:

• Stamps: Stamping Bella Bella on a Cupcake, Sentimeny by Hero Arts
• Paper: Sorry...I have forgotten! oops!
• Punches: EK Success, Cuttlebug Tag
• Other: Cricut George Cart for Circles, Colored Pencils, Stickles
  

I also created a "Love" card for Valentine's Day using one of the stamps sets I won off of Jennifer McGuires Blog. I added the crown (which I cut from the patterned paper) and added some bling to it with some rhinestones. I also used one of my favorite color combos for this card...pink and brown (love that combo)! I also added a little heart charm (found in the wedding section at Wal-Mart) to finish this card off. This is a little bit of a creative stretch for me since I usually do "cutesy" type of cards, but I think it works.

Recipe:

• Stamps: Autumn Leaves Gypsey Style II
• Ink: Tim Holtz
• Other: Cricut George Cart for Circles, Love Charm, Organa Ribbon, Rhinestones